Days 104-106 -- Chaing Mai Trekking

So we signed up for this 3 day trek the night we got into Chaing Mai that left on Tuesday morning. They were supposed to pick us up at 9AM, but were late so we didn't take off until 10AM. No big deal since we were scrambling most of the morning and we needed that extra time...here is the rundown of what turned out to be an amazing three days:

Day 1: Left the hostel and picked up a few other trekkers from their guest houses and we stopped by an orchid farm. Honestly, pretty lame, but they did have some cool orchids and even a butterfly farm...but I only saw a handful of butterflies. Next stop was an elephant park where we spent some time feeding elephants and then had a quick lunch before jumping on the elephants for an hour trek through the hillside. Landscape was unbelievable and the elephants were stubborn...only moving after you'd feed them bananas...bad breath too! Jumped off the elephants and crossed the river in some crazy cable car contraption...fun, but not so sure about the safety. Then we began the trek up the to the Lahu village tribe. The trek kicked my @$$...the first part was easy enough, but after 2 hours, we had an hour of solid uphill trekking that wore me out...finally made it up though! Lahu village was an interesting experience. They were in the middle of their New Year festivities (my 3rd NY celebration this year!) so they had a huge party...lots of rice whisky flowing and local dancing to drums and a flute type instrument...their party didn't stop until 4 AM which was annoying since we wanted to get some sleep. Stayed the night in a traditional Lahu home on stilts...no electricity, suprisingly they had running water though. They spoke their own dialect so the Thai I've learned got me nowhere.


Day 2: Breakfast at 9AM and the group split...half had signed up for 2 day trek, while the rest of us were on the 3 day. We continued up the hill and trekked in the jungle for a few hours...great scenery! Stopped for lunch and our guide made our meal entirely out of bamboo, except for the 2 minute noodle packets. Firewood was bamboo, cups carved out of bamboo, bowls, pots, chopstix...it was crazy! He got the water from the stream so all we needed was the noodles and a lighter to get the fire started. Never forget this meal...you have to see the pics. After lunch we trekked for another couple of hours before finally reaching our next stop...a nice waterfall. Took a nice shower in the cold water and spent the night in another traditional home right beside the waterfall. Nice dinner and since we were the only 4 at this campsite we called it an early night after playing with the campfire got boring...good to get some rest.

Day 3: Late start @ 11AM and we trekked for an hour or so before reaching another waterfall. Swam around for about an hour before continuing the trek to the river. Arrived at the river and did some whitewater rafting down about 5 rapids and then jumped on a bamboo raft to float the rest of the way downstream. Bamboo raft didn't look safe at all, but it floated and was really fun...perfect way to end the trek. Had some lunch (pad thai!) and then headed back towards Chaing Mai where they dropped us off at our guest house....overall it was an amazing 3 day experience (and workout!) and I'd recommend you guys do one when you make it this way...all of the landscape/scenery was unbelievable as you'll see from the pics. The trek itself took you right into the thick of the jungle crossing rivers on logs...never experienced anything like this! Good times...and managed to come out safe with only a wet pair of shoes and a solid scrape across my shin...not bad.

The plan is to hang around Chaing Mai for a few days as they are in the middle of their annual Flower Festival and then see where we go...maybe Burma?!? or maybe Laos?!? I'll keep you posted...